To Drink Away Your Sorrows
by GirlBehindTheBook
Summary: The night before Katniss and Peeta enter the arena. Effie is left to comfort a drunken Haymitch as he tries to drown the idea of sorrow from his mind. All characters belong to Suzanne Collins :)


**(A/N: All characters belong to Suzanne Collins :) I have decided that all Hunger Games fanfictions that I do from now till the end of May are dedicated to my best friend Darren for his birthday!)**

To Drink Away Your Sorrows:-

Effie watched him with her blue eyes as he tipped another bottle of liquor own his throat. His dark hair fell limply into his grey eyes. He was on his fifth bottle, she had counted carefully and yet he was still drinking, emptying each bottle in just a few gulps.

"I thought you were going to stay sober?" She questioned to him in her high pitched Capitol accent. He looked up at her, annoyance twisting his features. He took in her appearance she saw on the sofa, her face freed of make-up, her nightgown, although bright pink, was a simple thing, reaching just below her knees. Her wig was long and loose, a soft white. She seemed so much younger and in his mind beautiful.

"It's just a few drinks, lighten up." Haymitch growled ignoring the thoughts that came to his mind each time he looked at Effie. She raised a brow, still bleached. She had been organising he bottles that were now empty, making sure that if there was a single drop left (which she doubted) it would not drop on the floor.

"Yes, but, a few drinks to someone who, drinks a lot, is never a good thing." She stated as he handed her yet another bottle. She lined it up with the other bottles before placing her hands on her lap. It had been only a few hours since Katniss and Peeta had retired for the night but still, tomorrow was never a long way away.

"You don't need to worry about me, worry about them two. Neither know hide nor tail. Maybe the boys got a chance, but Sunshine-" Effie stood abruptly interrupting him. Her hands tightened into fists, at the same time she tried not to break a nail. Her cheeks flushed a slight pink and her head was slightly bowed.

"I, I am worried about them! I may not act like it but I worry about every single child from District Twelve that goes in the Arena! But unlike you, I do not drink my sorrows away! I want to remember them, the way I met them! Now if you excuse me, I'm off to sleep, early rise and all." Effie flattened the creases of her nightgown, sliding her feet into the fluffy slippers that sat just beside the chair that she had sat on previously. She turned her back on him, picking up the dressing-gown she had removed when Katniss and Peeta had gone to bed. She began to leave when she heard him. He sounded like a wounded animal. She froze, not turning though, just standing still, looking at the open door.

"What do I do?" His voice was a strangled tone, Effie reluctantly turned to face him. The bottle was clutched both hands, it was still half full, his head bent over the bottle. He seemed to look more pathetic than he normally did. His clothes rumbled, his hair mussed and his face tinged with the redness of a drunkard.

"What do you mean, what do you do?" The confusion mingled with her Capitol accent. She started to walk towards him, her slippers flapping against her feet. She stopped a little bit away from him, not touching him, only close enough to smell the liquor off him.

"How do I help them, keep them safe. I don't know any more." He clutched the bottle harder, his knuckles turning white. Effie sighed, she sat down on the sofa beside him and peeled her hands off the bottle, taking it away from him. He snapped his hand up, as if he was about to snap at her but she just glared.

"Listen to me, those two need you. The first thing you need to do is not to drink, they can't see you like this." She put the half empty bottle with the others on the small table, so they could be cleaned away during the night. She placed a hand on his shoulder in a comforting manner, smiling softly.

"The second thing you need to do it trust me. I won't let you fall, not again." Her body stiffened as Haymitcch through his arms around her, hugging her tightly. She wrinkled her nose at the smell of liquor She hadn't expected this but thought that he had drunk to much as if he was sober he wouldn't do this. She placed her thin arms around his waist, patting his back slightly.

"Thank you." He whispered into her ear softly. He whispered those words over and over again, but Effie left him to do so. Sitting there and allowing him to cry on her shoulder. She wasn't use to do things such as this, comforting people. Being an only child she had no siblings to deal with and now here she was, dealing with a grown man crying in her arms.

Half an hour had passed and he still cried. With a slight nudge, she indicated to Haymitch that he was to let go. He pulled back, retracting his arms from her and Effie shuddered at the sudden loss of heat. Her nightgown once again ruffled, she ignored it, trying so hard not to straighten it.

"Come now Haymitch, we must rest, it's a big big day tomorrow." She piped, smiling her normally force smile. He didn't look at her as he began to stand, stumbling back down onto the cushioned sofa.

"Erm, do you mind helping me?" He asked her. Slightly embarrassed at the fact he could not stand on his own with out falling. With a nod, Effie helped to pull him off the sofa and stumble off to bed.

Effie helped to lay Haymitch into bed, unlacing his boots for him as if he was a child. She pulled each off and tried hard not to cringe at both the dirt that had gathered onto the socks and the holes that seemed to cover the heels and toes of the socks.

"What did you expect?" He asked, his voice gruff and sleepy from his drinking. She rolled her eyes as she got up to pull the duvet over him.

"For you to wear better socks." She retorted as she throw the duvet over him. He looked up at her for a moment before cracking a grin. To say it transformed his face was an understatement To Effie, it made him appear far more handsome. As if he wasn't forty but still a young man who had his whole life a head of him. She hadn't expected something like this.

"Y'know, you look far more beautiful like that. More like a real woman. More beautiful." Effie blushed before shaking her head. Blaming it on the alcohol she rolled her eyes. A soft smile on her face.

"Good night Haymitch."


End file.
